
^ V 



Class _ 
Book._l7^ 



CoipgMI?. 



CDEmiGHT DEPOSm 



MASTER AND LACKEY 



And Other Poems 



BY 

CHARLES R. HART 




BOSTON 

RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS 



Copyright, 1921, by Charlea R. Hart 



All Rights Reserved 



OEC 18 i92' 






^^-h^ 



MADE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



Thk Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. a. 



©£1A631572 



TO 
MY MOTHER 



FOREWORD 



When many hundreds labor day and night 
To torture nations with ideals of fright, 
Can I have hopes that I shall win the palm, 
I who have nothing but ideals of calm? 



When countless poets sing of toil and strife 
And the deceptions of our mortal life, 
Should I aspire to win success today, 
I whose sole gospel is delight and play? 



Am I not mad, attempting to beguile 
This sad and thoughtful people with a smile ? 
Today, when all the peoples hurrying go. 
Before me shall the Nation's step be slow? 



And yet with such loud ravings at the door 
There should be nothing to astound men more 
Than to behold my poems: see I'm gay, 
I smile at errors I have thrown away! 



Foreword 



My only message to humanity 

Is to remove the centuries' debris, 

To let once more aspiring nations scan 

The features of earth's greatest wonder, Man! 



CONTENTS 

Page 
Laughter 1 1 

Interlude 12 

Fable 13 

Master and Lackey 14 

Two Knights in Loveland 62 

King Sorrow 81 

A Fable 109 

Bluebeard no 

Afterword 112 



MASTER AND LACKEY 



Laughter 



LAUGHTER 

Why were the truest types of greatness seen 
In times when men were godlike and serene, 
When Plato taught the riches of the mind, 
When Homer sang so well, though he was blind ? 

Why is it ? Search ye poets, search ye, ye scribes, 
Ye preachers, wnth your senseless diatribes! 
Is it the food they eat, the drink they quaff 
That makes men great? No, it is just their laugh. 

So, were I a reformer, I should climb 

Through Heaven, through all Nature, through all 

Time, 
Until there was no being low or high 
Who knew not how to laugh as well as I. 



II 



Master and Lackey 



INTERLUDE 

It is the custom in our northern land 
That ere he starts to sing the bard should stand 
Before his door and ring a noisy gong, 
Calling men in to hear him sing a song. 

There, where there is no treading of men's feet, 
Where there is just a memory of the street, 
The poet dares a truer tale to tell, 
And poetry's herself again as well. 

I'll think that you have come inside the door; 
I hear the noises of the crowd no more; 
I wait for one more hearer to come in, 
Favor's her name: she's come? Then I'll begin. 



12 



Fable 



FABLE 



There was a horse who would not venture through 
The barn door, for each time the others went 
He noticed that straightway the air was rent 
With the loud ringing of their iron hoofs 
Upon the floor. Said he: ''This will not do! 

Enough of walls and roofs! 

No longer to a place I'll cling 
Where, by the sound of hoofs upon the floor, 

By that and nothing more, 

The neighbors round about 
Cry to each other, though not looking out: ^ 
There goes another horse, the clumsy thmg! 

No, all my life henceforth I'll pass 

Silently treading on the grass. 

My hoofs I'll cover over 

With daisies, buttercups and clover. 

Men shall perceive me by the eye 

Or else not know when I pass by." 

So in the meadows all the summer days 
Contently men saw our rebel graze. 

Alas, where ploughmen used to go 
The winter came and cast the seeds of snow! 

Back to the once scorned stable 
The poor horse went as well as he was able. 



13 



MASTER AND LACKEY 

PROLOGUE 



A master and his lackey fled away 

From earth. The fact is strange, for, as you know, 

Masters at any moment come and go 

But lackies wait until their dying day. 



Howbeit, sirs, master and lackey went 
Together; one was found who would consent 
To separation from his darling earth: 
The lackey was rewarded with much mirth. 



If you are not corrupted by the words 
Of modern poets, if you love the birds, 
Then come: let Fancy saw the prison bars 
Of earth and let you out among the stars. 



H 



Master and Lackey 



DEPARTURE 

Lackey — Master, I should have thought these 
clouds, this sun, 
These brooks and winds going their tune- 
ful ways, 
Were cause enough to make all beings 

glad; 
But then I chanced to turn and look at 

you. 
Do you know your face is sad? 
Master Of course it is. 

For all day I was toiling at my book. 
How can their looks be anything but sad 
Who wish to write about the human 
heart? 
Lackey — ^Which heart? the heart that beats here 
in the breast, 
Or that which makes mannikins dance 
and play? 
Master — I mean this beating heart. 
Lackey. Once, my dear master, 

I met a man who wrote about the heart 
And he was very cheerful. 
Master. But not I : 

My wish is to be terribly sincere. 
Lackey — You have too grim a look to be sincere. 

Sincere men smile. 
Master. I say sincere men frown. 



15 



Master and Lackey 



Lackey — Do they do nothing else than frown, xny 

master? 
Master — Sometimes they weep, sometimes they 
shout and curse. 
But there are no occasions when they 
smile. 
Lackey — What are sincere men so sincere about? 
Master— About the truth. 

Lackey. What is the truth, my master? 

Master — Something that makes you shudder when 
you hear it, 
It casts such gloom on the astounded 

world ; 
Something that makes the speaker lose his 

voice, 
And he must either whisper truth or 
shout it. 

Lackey — Where should I look for truth and find 

her, sir? 
Master — The surest place to find the truth, my 

man. 
Is on some battlefield. In peaceful times 
Go to the parliaments of nation, yes. 
Or to the churches — you will find her 

there. 
But wheresoever she may be, the truth 
Is always just the same, a timid thing; 
She's shrinking in a corner, some brave 

man 
Defends her from the world. 

i6 



Master and Lackey 



Lackey. How fortunate 

That truth is not like sunshine or the air, 
Widespread and free through all the uni- 
verse ! 
For if it were so common, master dear. 
How could one well defend her? 
Master. Even so: 

There's reason in your speech. 
Lackey. But tell me master. 

Where can one gain a knowledge of the 

heart ? 
In which of all these stars? 
Master. The farthest one. 

Lackey — Why, master, should you say the farthest 

star? 
Master — Knowledge is always far away, and then 
Long generations lived which knew the 

heart 
In yonder star; men study at their 
tombs. 
Lackey — Are none acquainted with the heart at 

home? 

Master — This is a science learned beyond the seas; 

The human heart is never know at home. 

If you desire to know the human heart, 

Go ask some foreigner about it. 

Lackey. Please, 

How is that, sir? 
Master. To know the human heart 

You must have lived beneath a cloudy 
sky, 

17 



Master and Lackey 



Not underneath this canopy of blue. 
You must have suffered: who can live 

at ease 
And know the human heart? But when 

you suffer, 

do not suffer as our neighbors do, 
Quietly, unobtrusively, O no! 

You must be violent; the violent 

Alone can have a knowledge of the heart. 

Search out a land where men are violent ; 

In peaceful countries hearts are never 
known. 

How I despise you for your peacefulness, 

My countrymen! 
Lackey. And yet you live among them. 

Master — I'd live no longer with my countrymen; 

1 should abandon this too peaceful star, 
Did I not have my cloud. But, tell me, 

Lackey, 
Where is my cloud ? 
Lackey. What cloud, dear master, tell me? 

Master — The little cloud I bade you hold in leash, 
My little, individual, golden cloud. 
The only cloud in all this atmosphere! 
Lackey — I had forgotten it. 

Master. You let it go, 

My only consolation, my companion! 
I bore it in my left hand or my right 
In all my journeys, it was my protection 
Against the evils of the dazzling sun- 
light. 

i8 



Master and Lackey 



Lackey. 

Master- 



I warned you not to let it float away, 

For once a cloud is gone 'twill not re- 
turn. 

I am afraid to live without a cloud. 

Unkind fates which deprive me of a 
cloud, 

What would ye do with me? 

You'd think, dear master, 

They wished that should live in the broad 
daylight, 

pityful intelligence of lackies, 

To think the fates could have such low 
designs ! 

1 cannot live without some mistiness. 
This is a warning and a prodigy: 

I have been too contented with one cloud, 
I should have lived surrounded with a 

thousand. 
I'll go away, I know too well the dangers 
That lands are rife with under cloudless 

skies. 
Lackey — (Aside). He might be tempted to be 

natural, 
Perhaps some day he would not be 

grotesque, 
He might cease to be irritated! 

Lackey, 
I'm going to the fatherland of clouds 
This very day. 

Where is that country, sir? 
There in that farthest star, in the abode 

of truth. 



Master. 



Lackey. 
Master- 



19 



Master and Lackey 



Lackey. I'm going with you. 

Master. If you wish, 

Though what's a lackey good for, if he 
does not 
Bear on his wrist a gold cloud like a fal- 
con? 



I wonder when the ancient strife began 
Between the master and his serving man? 
Was it the day the master had to wait 
Because his lackey was so slow of gait ? 



How could he well be anything but slow? 
Often he turned ere he resolved to go. 
He wished to keep a picture in his brain 
Which not all Heaven's clouds and mists should 
stain. 

AUTHORITY 

Lackey — Dear master, here's the nearest spot on 
earth 
To Heaven and you have your foot upon 
it: 
How fortunate I'm here! 
Master. How fortunate? 

You tell me when your master stands at 
last 

20 



Master and Lackey 



Close to the stars he's fortunate to have 
One who is just a lackey for companion? 
What insolence! 
Lackey. Indeed 'tis fortunate. 

Master — Have I then need of you to step out 
boldly 
Into these beautiful and golden clouds? 
Lackey— No, master. 

Master. Have I need of you to turn 

My face in most unspeakable disdain 
From yon low earth that's only fit for 
lackies ? 
Lackey — No, master. 

Master. Do I need you to fill up 

Each moment the gold goblet of my brain 

With aspirations, boundless aspirations? 

Lackey — No, master. You can do these things 

alone, 

I know that you can do them. You're a 

wonder 
For filling up the goblet of your brain 
With aspirations and for always turning 
Your face from earth and stepping boldly 

out 
Into the beautiful and golden clouds. 
Master — ^Will you then tell me what I need you 

for? 
Lackey — Yes, But first tell me, what is Heaven 
like? 
Say, in what harbor will you cast your 
anchor? 

21 



Master and Lackey 



Master — Wherever it may please me. Gracious, 
man! 
When one sets out for Heaven, he des- 
pises 
Compass and chart. His goal is Heaven, 

Heaven! 
It matters not what port he touches at; 
There are no coasts whereon he may be 

wrecked, 

The whole land is a harbor. 

Lackey. Tell me, master, 

Where did you find your map of heaven? 

Master. Lackey, 

I found it where a master finds all 

things, 
Whereof he may have need, within his 
mind. 
Lackey — It does not seem the same that I was 
shown. 
I've had a talk with the geographers. 
Master — I tell you, lackey, no geographers 

Can guide you to that land. You need 

no guide. 
To reach the Heavenly land beyond the 

stars. 
Lay out your course past Venus or past 

Mars; 
What does it matter? 
Lackey. They insist it matters 

Greatly. 
Master. I say it does not. 

22 



Master and Lackey 



Lackey. You'll believe me. 

If I display a permit, duly signed, 
To travel on a road that's practicable 
Up to the shining gates of Paradise. 
I have obtained it at the office yonder, 
A passport for a master and his lackey. 
Master — It is a forgery. 

Lackey. They signed it with 

Pens all of gold that had a Heavenly 

lustre. 
See here the signature, consul of Heaven. 
Master — I'll submit to a passport on the earth, 

Not on the way to Heaven. 
Lackey. There are guardsmen 

Who will demand to see it 'mid the stars. 
Master — Let them demand it: they'll have none 

from me. 
Lackey — They'll lock you up upon some distant 

star. 
Master — 'Twould be romantic, just what I desire! 
Lackey — So be it, master. Let us then go forth. 
We will begin our travels in the sky 
On any route you please. {Aside). The 

guardsmen soon 
Will set us in the straight and narrow 

road, 
And then, O the complaining I shall hear 
Because the road passes a certain star 
And not another. {Aloud). Come, good 
master, come! 
Master — See, he has stepped before me into 
Heaven! 

23 



Master and Lackey 



You lackey, turn there! Come and fol- 
low me! 
Here lies the road! 
hACKEY— {Aside). Aye, there it lies indeed, 

And I avoided it to make him choose it. 



The lackey questioned: *'In that distant place, 
What will the nature be of Time and Space?" 
To which the master, with that way of his 
Men love, said: ''Something other than it is. 



'Tor all things that have worth and dignity 
Are jealous lest the eye of man should see. 
There's nothing which attends without disguise 
This mighty masquerade beneath the skies." 

TASTE 

Master — I love the waves that break upon these 
shores. 
For here the waters of the firmament 
Make, as they roll, the music of the 
spheres. 
Lackey — It is good music, sir. 
Master. There's none below 

That equals it. 
Lackey. With this sound ringing round me 

24 



Master and Lackey 



And charming all my senses, still I seem 

To hear far off the notes of a guitar, 

And I am happy as I hear them, sir. 
Master — This music drowns all others. 
Lackey. How is it 

I hear that far off earthly music still ? 
Master — Because a lackey has imperfect ears 

And when he hears these sounds ineffable 

Still minds the earthly music of a day. 
Lackey — It seems that I have more capacious ears 

Than you, my master. 
Master. There is a magician 

Who touches mortal ears and they are 
changed. 

Her name is Taste. Those whom her 
touch has favored 

Must live forever by Eternal seas. 

Who when he hears the stars singing to- 
gether 

Would care to hear mere earthly chor- 
uses? 

A moment there is silence, then one star 

Is singing all alone, then two and then 

A hundred chant together. Heavenly 
music 

Is sometimes loud and sometimes soft 
and low, 

And yet the very softest notes of it 

Deafen you to the music of the earth. 

Listen! another symphony begins. 

If that might be in this Eternity 

25 



Master and Lackey 



Where all has been foreseen and foreor- 
dained 
You'd say that some musician impro- 
vised, 
You'd say that he discovered every note 
And to the next looked, as we hearers do, 
As to a revelation. 
Lackey. Sit you down. 

Master — The music pauses for an instant: list! 

What silence! You must know these 

silences 
Are portions of the music. 
Lackey. O there are 

No silences for me: far, far away 
I hear once more the notes of a guitar, 
And what is strange, to my uncultured 

ear, 
It seems a part of this same symphony. 
Master — 'Tis well then that the silences are rare. 
Or all too often earth's discordant notes 
Might gain from you unmerited ap- 
plause. 

One day, as they approached a certain star, 
A sprite was seen who shouted from afar: 
"Hail master, hail thou king and guide of men!" 
'Twas at the lackey he was gazing then. 

the menagerie 

Lackey — Master I have been looking at those trees 
As long a time as some poor creatures live 
26 



Master and Lackey 



That haunt the fallen leaves upon the 

ground. 
Will you believe it, I've not seen a bird 
In all that time? 
Master. Of course you have seen none. 

Lackey — What is that sw^aying on the topmost 
bough ? 
Is it a bird, sir? Say it is a bird. 
Master — 'Tis just a sprite. 

Lackey. Alas, such restful shadows 

And not a bird to nestle in the shade! 
O master, what is that that's scurrying 
Under the trees? 
Master. It is another sprite. 

Lackey — Alas, I hoped it was a beast: I would 
See other things than leaves to cast a 

shadow 
And look on other sights of dappled 

beauty 
Than bits of sunny ground — I see an 

eagle 
Soaring among the clouds! 
Master. You see a sprite. 

Lackey — And what was that which plunged into 
the lake 
As we approached ? 
Master. A sprite. 

Lackey. O master, master ! 

No love-sick woman that adored you, sir, 
Has ever looked upon you as I shall 
Henceforth. I'll glue my eyes upon you, 
sir, 

27 



Master and Lackey 



As on Heaven's wonder, for you are a 

man 
And you've a touch of earth. 
Master. I am a spirit. 

Lackey — Alas, I thought that you were still a man! 
Where shall I gaze now and be satisfied ? 
Heaven be praised! here is this lake be- 
side me: 
I'll look there at myself, I still am earthy. 
Master — Yes, so you are. 

Lackey. How I admire myself! 

To think I am the representative 
Of that great thing called Man! All 

hail, mankind! 
It is not egotism to admire 
The only remnant of the race: 'tis duty 
To admire what is left of something 
noble. 

may I never go so far afield, 
May I not ever be so long away. 
That I forget thy customs, pleasant 

earth. 
That I become wholly unlike a man. 
Let me, o'er whatsoever mirror I may 

bend, 
Still find the likeness which I find today, 
Or else destroy all mirrors save that one 

1 still shall love to gaze on, memory; 
Then I shall tell the angels up above 
That in my palmy days I was a man. 
Thou splendid fellow ! come reach me thy 

fingers 

28 



Master and Lackey 



Just to the water's surface: There, I 
clasp them. 
Master — You are embracing shadows. 
Lackey. I resemble 

My master. 
Master. Come, your cuff is dripping. 

Lackey. He 

Says his whole sleeve is dripping: this 
is nothing. 
Master — Behold a breeze has come to break your 
mirror. 

It is a sign of Heaven's disapproval. 
Lackey — O how I wish I had been vain of old ! 

I should have come provided with a mir- 
ror. 

What hours I should have spent admir- 
ing man! 

O master, tell me I am comely. 
Master. You 

Are just a lackey. 
Lackey. I'm humanity, 

Today, begging your pardon. 
Master. Bravo, then! 

Mankind is well personified in lackies. 
Lackey — O then you were a lackey once. 
Master. I never 

Was a mere man. 
Lackey. I have a sudden hope. 

Tell me what is the season of the year ? 

Tell me it's winter, master? 
Master. It is summer. 



29 



Master and Lackey 



Lackey — Then no spring zephyrs will bring back 
the birds! 
Sir, you have made me very melancholy. 
Master — The sprites are songsters. 
Lackey. I don't like their voices! 

Arc there no beasts to run along the 
ground ? 
Master — There are the sprites. 
Lackey. Master, I am alarmed. 

Come, let us calculate. How far, my 

master, 
Would you suppose the nearest brindled 
cow? 
Master — Some million miles! 
Lackey. O this is terrible! 

How far the nearest rabbit? 
Master. Millions too. 

Lackey — O master! and the nearest roaring lion? 
Master — He must be the same distance. 
Lackey. O my master. 

What a long way to be from animals! 
Master — Where would you be? beneath the lion's 

paw? 
Lackey — Rather than here. It's terrible I say. 

We cannot travel so far from the beasts, 
The guileless and the kind, ingenuous 

beasts, 
And not be far astray. O let us hasten. 
Somewhere where there are beasts, 

though we should find 
Only a poodle dog I should be happy. 

30 



Master and Lackey 



I never was so fond of poodle dogs 

As now. I think I could support this 
journey 

If at my side there ran a poodle dog, 

Something to say "Here, doggie" to. In- 
stead 

All I can say is "Come, thou lovely 
sprite!" 

A spineless thing which is too well-be- 
haved 

And needs the rod to cure him of obedi- 
ence. 

Come, half a dozen sprites, and take a 
licking. 
Master — O impious language! You are still a 

slave. 
Lackey — O master, you would not behold me die. 
Master — Why not? I always wished that you 
might die: 

'Tis the best thing that one can wish for 
lackies. 

There's then the hope that they may turn 
to spirits. 
Lackey — Then I'll not die, if I must be a spirit. 

No, you have frightened me back into 
life. 

I feared that I should die without a dog, 

But while there's life there's hope of see- 
ing dogs 

And being dead I'd never see them more. 

No, I elect to live. I shall take courage, 

31 



Master and Lackey 



I will support the fearful loneliness 
That comes upon me when I think I am 
A million miles from any dog or cow. 
It may be that the Lord is merciful, 
Perhaps there's a menagerie above. 
I know where I shall spend my Sundays 

then, 
Looking at birds and beasts I once was 

fond of. 

End of the Menagerie 

When he beheld with his astonished eyes 
An angel flitting starlike in the skies 
The lackey said; "To be a bird is best, 
For what's the good of wings without a nest?'* 

LOVE-LETTERS 

Lackey — Master, your eyes have grown so big 
you'd think 
That you are seeing visions. 

Master. So I am. 

Lackey — Here's a root which will cure you. 

Master. Cast it from you, 

For that must be a bitter, harmful root 
Which cures from seeing visions. 

Lackey. I consume 

One every day and still my face is ruddy. 

Master — No matter, for I have an antidote: 

I think your root would be innocuous 
And I should still see visions. 

Lackey. I believe it. 

32 



Master and Lackey 



Master — Now go away. Dig roots if so you wish, 
Since that's a fit employment for a lackey. 
I shall stay here upon this promontory 
While far and wide the planets cast the 

shadow^s, 
Which on the earth are cast by fleeting 
clouds. 
Lackey — What will you do there, sir? 
Master. I'll write a letter. 

Lackey — This is no time for writing letters, sir: 

You're seeing visions. 
Master. 'Tis the time to write. 

I'm seeing visions, therefore I must 
write. 
Lackey — I'll write a letter too. 
Master. If you've a thought 

That's worthy penning, write it; I care 
not. 
Lackey — Of course I have or shall have in a 
moment : 
I'll bite this root a bit. 
Master. O lackey, lackey! 

Lackey — {After a moment). My letter's written, 

sir. 
Master. Mine's just begun. 

Lackey — Read mine, perhaps 'twill aid you. 
Master. I'll not read it. 

I read the poets and philosophers 
Before I write a letter — nothing more. 
Lackey — Yes, so your correspondents have remark- 
ed. 



33 



Master and Lackey 



I wish you'd read my letter. 
Master. Read it to me. 

What did you find to say? 
Lackey. What did I find? 

What could I find? There's but one 
formula 

Used by the honest lovers of the world: 

'*I love you and I hope you love me, 
dear." 
Master — Is that all? 
Lackey. What is there to add, except 

The ordinary postscript, oft omitted: 

"If you don't love me, I'll not love you, 
dear"? 
Master — O that is sacrilege ! 
Lackey. 'Tis honest love. 

Master — You'd better cast your letter in the fire 

For posting ; you will find no angels here 

To carry such a missive. 
Lackey. Here are twenty 

Clamoring for the honor ! 
Master. They're mistaken; 

Let me enlighten them. 
Lackey. It is too late, 

You'll not o'ertake them now. See how 
it glows 

Borne starlike in their hands across the 
skies, 

The honest letter of an honest lover! 
Master — I pray you, watch the angels crowd 
around me 

34 



Master and Lackey 



When I have finished mine. See, here's 
one now. 
Lackey — Look out, he's reaching for your pen! 
Master. There always 

Were angels reaching for my pen and 

often 
I let them write for me. 
Lackey. May I behold 

What you have written ere it is too late, 
Before your letter has been spoiled by 
angels ? 
Master. Yes, if you wish 

Lackey. I'll keep away from angels, 

They might corrupt my style. O, O, 
O, O! 
Master — What is the matter? 
Lackey. See what you have written! 

I think an angel held your pen already. 
No mortal could have had such thoughts 
as these. 
Master — I never cease to study day and night 

How one may write love-letters like an 
angel. 
Lackey — 'Tis evident. But you'll not mail this, 

sir. 
Master — Why not ? 
Lackey — The postman is a good, kind man ; 

I would not have him partner to such 

deeds. 
I have ideals, I would believe the truth 
Is fostered by the post. 

35 



Master and Lackey 



Master. What are you saying? 

think how many lies are circulating 
Each morning in the post! 

Lackey. Here are no falsehoods. 

No letter ever was more purposeful 

And more sincere. 
Master. There lies the trouble, sir. 

Your letter is too full of purposes. 

There's some one groaning for the lack 
of them 

Because you piled too many in one letter. 

Know, there is not so much sincerity 

In all the world that one may justly 
hold 

So great a wealth of it. Restore, restore 

To all the men you stole them from, un- 
thinking. 

The treasures which are theirs. Then 
shall each man 

With his due portion of sincerity 

Live happy in the world. O why con- 
spire 

With any maiden just because she's fair 

To pile up purposes a hundred deep? 

A few will be enough. 
Master. You've taken away 

My inspiration. 
Lackey. Honesty has done so, 

Since you restore the wealth that is not 
yours. 

Does not that lend you inspiration, sir? 

1 think it is the time to be inspired 

36 



Master and Lackey 



When you have just accomplished some- 
thing honest. 
Master — 'Tis true, but tell me, lackey. I can't 
write 

So brief a note as yours. What shall I do 

To make this present letter true and 
honest ? 

Can it be done? 
Lackey. I think it can be done. 

Yes, master, I am sure it can be done. 

Replace *'forevers" with ''until tomor- 
row," 

Instead of "steadfast" write the word 
"well-meaning," 

For "your devoted" substitute "your 
hopeful." 

I think your letter will be honest yet, 

As true as it may be and speak of love. 

"In yonder star which one can scarcely see," 
The master said, "lie Health and Verity." 
The lackey answered: "Master, are they there? 
I had imagined they were everywhere." 

AFFINITIES 

Master — Here I have lain the whole night through 
and slept 
Only those moments when all things are 

drowsy, 
The fading stars, the unawakened morn. 

37 



Master and Lackey 



Lackey — The sun has had the time, after the chal- 
lenge 
Of his first beams, to gird himself a bit: 
He will be coming now, O happy sun ! 
Master — O why reproach the sun with being 
happy? 
The sun has too unlimited a sway 
To be long happy, he is always rising 
Upon some place where people are un- 
happy. 
Lackey — Who is unhappy here ? 
Master. You ask me that. 

You who beheld a woman scorn my love ! 
Lackey — Do you then love her so? 
Master. How does it happen 

That, when I tell my fellows of my love, 
All ask me this: ''Do you then love her 
so?" 
Lackey — How should we know? 
Master. You've but to look at me. 

Lackey — No, master, there is something more to 
do; 
I look at you and ask the question still. 
Master — O what is this that's shown upon the 
face, 
If not the heart? 
Lackey. I think it is the heart. 

Master — Then my look's all devotion, candor, 

love. 
Lackey — No, sir, not if what's shown there is the 
heart. 

38 



Master and Lackey 



Master — Behold the sun! Night and the moon 
retreating 
Seem elsewhere like a host proudly ad- 
vancing. 

Sun, illume this garden where I lost 
her, 

Light up each corner as though there 

were hidden 
The faults which have displeased her: 
I'll uproot them. 
Lackey — I'd not disturb this garden: it is fair. 
Master — No garden's fair that has displeased a 
woman, 
No character is fair that has displeased 
one, 

1 will uproot my faults and in their place 
I'll plant flowers of her choosing. 

Lackey. Tell me, master. 

Do you then love her so ? 
Master. Again that question. 

Of course I do. 
Lackey. And would you marry her? 

Master — Of course I would. 
Lackey. And should she marry you? 

"Of course she should," is that your an- 
swer, master? 
Master — I know not if she loves me. 
Lackey. Nor do I. 

But should she marry you, that is the 
question. 
Master — I know not. 

39 



Master afid Lackey 



Lackey. Here's a thing which must be known. 

Master — How should one know it? 

Lackey. I will tell you, master. 

You say you love her? 
Master. Yes. 

Lackey. How do you love her? 

Master — Heavens! I told you when I said: "I 

love her." 
Lackey — We say so many things saying "I love 
her" 
I think we should be careful when we say 

it. 
But, master, I am curious today. 
Tell me your age please. 
Master. Thirty. 

Lackey. What is hers? 

Master — Twenty. 

Lackey. Good. Now inform me: do you love 

With love that's fitting in a man of 
thirty? 
Master — Of course I do. Your questions now are 

answered. 
Lackey — I merely have begun to ask them, master. 
' He who is teaching reason to a lover 
Has always just begun. Is it the love 
Which men of thirty feel for girls of 

twenty 
When they are well inspired? 
Master. I said, I love her. 

Lackey — Yes, but here lies the danger. Once I 
knew 



40 



Master and Lackey 



A man who loved a maid of twenty sum- 
mers 

With a most beautiful and true affection, 

But 'twas a love befitting brides of thirty. 

It proved the maid's undoing. Let all 
lovers 

Be mindful of the loved one's age. 
Master. 'Tis true. 

But when I think she has but twenty 
summers 

I find I love her with befitting love. 

I think you must be done with question- 
ing. 
Lackey— O no! there's still the question: does 
she love you 

With love that's proper to a girl of 
twenty 

For a bridegroom whose winters num- 
ber thirty? 
Master — How should I know? 
Lackey. 'Tis something you must know. 

Suppose she dreamed that you were only 
twenty, 

Suppose that she imagined you were 
forty, 

Suppose she thought you any age but that 

Which is the true one? O, I'm tremb- 
ling, sir. 

At the mere thought of it ! 
Master. Rise, golden Sun! 

Illume this lackey's brain. Teach him 
to solve 



41 



Master and Lackey 



True subtleties in love but never these 
Imaginary ones. 
Lackey. I still have others 

For you to solve. But look! there is a 

woman 
Walking in yonder garden. 
Master. It is she! 

Behold her there, the woman who has 

scorned me ! 
You ask what sort of love is in my soul? 
It is the sort of love that lovers feel 
When at a woman's feet. But I shall 

win her. 
When I have won her you'll observe, I 

trust, 
There's no importance in a lover's age, 
Since Time is lost in love's Eternity. 
Lackey — Not only women love to hide their age: 
Suitors conceal it also when they woo. 



"Shall I not talk of Greatness?" one day said 
The lackey to his master as they fled 
Across the firmament before some fear 
The master, not the lackey, saw appear. 



"To hear you talk of it I'd be enchanted. 
You've never done so yet," the master panted. 
To which the lackey answered: "I began 
To talk of greatness when I talked of man." 

42 



Master and Lackey 



DECORUM 

Master — Must I then warn you once again, O 
lackey, 

To keep a calm and reverent demeanor? 

Can you not walk with greater dignity? 

I think you have forgotten that this is 

A promenade across Eternity. 
Lackey — May I no longer turn a somersault? 
Master — I think the demon had a fertile brain 

Who first imagined trials for mankind. 

The worst of trials is a vulgar lackey 

Who thinks that he may turn a somer- 
sault 

When on a journey to the court of 
Heaven! 

Remember we are in the retinue 

Of all great men: the ages are the suite 

Of all the great men who have gone be- 
fore. 
Lackey — I thought it lawful to turn somersaults 

When, see ! the very stars are doing it. 

It makes their flames leap up with bright- 
er glow 

Each time they turn a sudden somer- 
sault. 

't is the contagion of their playfulness, 

The joviality of the bright stars, 

That made me do it. 
Master. Watch those on ahead. 

Mark well if St. Augustine may be seen 

43 



Master and Lackey 



Making his stately way: search well to 
find 

Impressive figures, St. Bernard, Beethov- 
en, 

And Michael Angelo. All these have 
suffered 

Great sorrows and they meditate upon 
them 

As solemnly they go. Upon their gait 

Model your own, and since you are a 
lackey 

With trifling woes that lend no air of 
pain. 

Meditate on the sorrows of great men. 

Go borrow griefs if you have not your 
own, 

It is no matter how you come by it 

Provided you shall have a look of woe. 
Lackey — I pray you, master, send me back to 
school. 

How shall I ever learn decorum here? 

See! the whole band is turning somer- 
saults. 

What shall I do? 
Master. This is the rearguard only. 

Look farther on to ages when great men 

Through a whole lifetime were not 
known to smile. 

Those, lackey, were the great, heroic 
times. 
Lackey — You say that they were never known to 
smile ? 



44 



Master and Lackey 



Master — Sometimes they smiled but with such 
looks of pain 
You felt they never should be asked to 

smile 
Since smiling, caused them such great 
suffering. 
Lackey — (Who has climbed a tree). 

How far, think you, I ought to see, O 

master, 
Perched here upon this tree of inspira- 
tion? 
Master — Were you your master you would see so 
far 
You'd never talk again of the horizon, 
At least this one which binds our mortal 
sight. 
Lackey — I'm but a lackey, yet I see a thing 

That would astound you greatly. 
Master. What is that? 

Lackey — Why, there's an angel standing at the 
head 
Of the vast column: he has just alight- 
ed 
And he is dancing. Those who lead the 

way 
Are dancing now. Look, others imitate 
them. 
Master — What is that wa5rward angel thinking 
of? 
Come down, come down, you should not 
see such things 

45 



Master and Lackey 



Lackey- 
Master. 
Lackey- 
Master- 



Lackey. 
Master. 
Lackey. 



When mounted on the tree of inspir- 
ation. 
-And now the impulse is communicated 
From rank to rank, soon no one will be 

left 
Who is not gaily dancing. 

I shall not. 
I shall not be susceptible to frenzy. 
-{Descending). The madness is upon me, 

I must dance, 
-'t is true, the souls of all the dead are 

dancing. 
I alone screen them from humanity 
And upon me the fate of man depends 
Lest they learn the actions of the dead 
And know what revelries take place in 

Heaven. 
If I am calm they'll think the dead arc 

calm. 
O let me still maintain my dignity, 
Merciful God ! 

Here are the souls of the dead 
Forming a ring around you, master. 

O 
Abomination ! 

See they make him dance! 
Yes it is true the dead are dancing, men, 
O men and stars, come let us dance in 
tune! 



I would recount the lackey's strange mistake 

46 



Master and Lackey 



He told himself: "A compass I will make;" 
And thought that he could make a guide of worth 
On which the needle pointed back to earth! 

PATRIOTISM 

Master — Until the new tide shall set in to Heaven 
Here will I rest. They chafe impatiently 
A long, long time, you know, these Heav- 
enly waves 
Until that tide when sun and moon to- 
gether 
Shall draw the waves along. 
Lackey. I hear them chafing. 

Master — Now we are here I'd be no more re- 
minded 
That there's a firmament where planets 

turn. 
I would forget they are revolving there; 
I wish henceforth to concentrate my 

thought 
On this sole planet. 
Lackey. Why is that, my master? 

I thought the other stars were beautiful. 
Master — You see you may find beauty anywhere 

And like all things that one finds any- 
where 
't is of but little value. 
Lackey. There were men 

Of kindly hearts on every star we passed 
Who proved that all the stars are hos- 
pitable. 

47 



Master and Lackey 



Master — Why will you talk of hospitality 

And beauty? Think of purpose, of big 
things ! 
Lackey — But master, why do any undertake 

A journey in the skies? Think y^n it is 

To see things our as yet unopened lids 

Hid from us at our birth and nothing 
more? 
Master — You do not need to travel, in my quest, 

For I am searching for a mystery. 
Lackey — Why are you looking for a mystery? 
Master — What, pray, should any man be looking 
for 

If not a mystery? 
Lackey. Please tell me, master; 

What is a mystery? 
Master. A mystery 

Is that which is peculiar to each star; 

It is the only still uncommon thing. 
Lackey — I thought that reason also was uncom- 
mon, 
Master — If you will not believe in mystery, 

Be still. I feel the frenzy coming on : 

Behold the phantoms which my will 
evokes ! 
Lackey — Who is that yonder? 
Master. That's the genius, sir, 

Of this great planet. Can you think of 
aught 

More wonderful than that? 
Lackey. I can indeed. 

48 



Master and Lackey 



Suppose the genius of the Universe 
Rose up before us! But you'll not evoke 

her 
In periods of frenzy: she's too calm, 
Too beautiful and yet magnificent 
Ever to come when minds are in disorder. 
I've often seen her as I walked along 
From star to star, yet it was not a vision ; 
It was with waking eyes. 
Master. What should I do 

If I should cease to look for mysteries 
Upon this planet ? 
Lackey. What I'm doing, master. 

Master — What's that ? You have the air of doing 

nothing. 
Lackey — I give my life to reminiscences. 

Strange, since I made that journey 

through the stars 
All things seem made for waking mem- 
ories ; 
One thing reminds me always of another, 
Or, rather, seems to be that self-same 

thing. 
I'd lose my way if I should go again, 
All things are so alike. If you, my 

master, 
Should make with me a far-off ren- 
dezvous, 
Though you described it ever so exactly 
I might turn up in Mars and you be 
waiting 

49 



Master and Lackey 



In Venus, sir. 
Master. O ruler of the Heavens, 

Think of the risk I took! 
Lackey. What was the danger? 

Master — Suppose that like you I had walked 
among 
The stars and lost my faith in mystery! 
Lackey — Be thankful that you made the journey, 
sir, 
And are, today, unchanged by what 5^ou 
saw ! 
Master — Indeed I'm thankful. 
Lackey. Yet you would suppose 

That after all a journey's goal is change. 
Master — Not at all. As I went I cried defiance 

To the false stars which clamored to be 

known. 
That is the reason why we walk abroad. 
To be unmoved by all the things we see 
And talk about the mystery at home. 
Lackey — Let's go again. Perhaps you'll love the 
stars 
And cease to talk about the mystery. 
Master — Never. That would be treason. I'll not 
stir 
From this enlightened planet any more, 
But serve the mystery until I die. 
Lackey — I think that you might take a holiday. 
Perhaps the mystery's a genial soul 
And children could evoke her just as 
well. 



50 



Master and Lackey 



The master said: '*We have forsaken all 
That rolls in sight of our terrestrial ball." 
The lackey answered: "How can such things be? 
Shall man abandon then his memory?" 

DOMINATION 

Master — I wish to live in the star round which the 

world moves. 
Lackey — That's a star no man can live upon: 

It is the sun. 
Master. You think it is the sun 

Because you are a lackey, but I tell you 
The centre of the world is this same star 
Where we now make our home. 
Lackey. Have you a measure 

To prove it is? Pace a star's nightly 

journey 
Each way from here and though you still 

meet stars 
That seem to crowd about our planet's 

skirts 
You have proved nothing : you must pace 

so far 
On every side that it will seem your goal 
Is Old Age and Decay and Dissolution; 
The distance will be written in your face, 
Recorded in deep furrows on your brow. 
No man can well return with ruddy 

looks 



51 



Master and Lackey 



Who proves where is the centre of the 

world. 
Master — Not by my aimless pacing through the 

stars 
Shall I prove this the centre; rather, 

lackey, 
I shall stir up such turbulence in Heaven 
That men will know the centre by the 

storms 
That come from it — only the core of 

things 
Could be the centre of such violence. 
Lackey — Although the seat of government be 

changed 
Must the new centre be so far away? 
Why make the New so distant from the 

Old? 
Master — The change must be apparent to the 

world. 
If the new centre were not far away, 
Men might believe the universe revolv- 
ed 
As it has always done, about the sun. 
Lackey — I think there is another reason, master. 
You wish to hear the rushing of the stars, 
Hurrying to new stations in your train. 
Master — Precisely, man: you have imagination. 
Lackey — How do you know that in their distant 

realms 
Some stars may not be found indifferent? 

52 



Master and Lackey 



When men should speak of the indiffer- 
ence 
Of distant, mighty stars you would be 

angry; 
And then, besides there is an edge of 

things 
That never has been crossed even by 
stars. 
Master — It is because the stars are timorous; 

They're waiting for my hosts to go be- 
fore. 
rU conquer all, even the Emptiness 
Of outer spaces. 
Lackey. Do you think the sun 

Will readily obey ? 
Master Unless the Light 

Becomes my vassal there shall be no light 
In all the world. This is the age when 

kings 
Are being fast dethroned. Shall this old 

tyrant, 
The oldest potentate in all the world, 
Be still allowed to rule? It is high time 
That he too should be humbled in the 
dust. 
Lackey — Are you determined then to be a king? 
Master — I and the fates are of one mind in this. 
Lackey — I hope the sun will peacefully submit: 
I would not live to see my master slay 
The aged and the venerable Light. 

53 



Master and Lackey 



The master asked the lackey: "Is it right 

To look for treasures in the broad daylight? 

No, let us set to digging in the glade 

With something which we will not call a spade." 



He was prepared to dig if there was need 
To where there are so many mouths to feed 
In China. But just then, O! strange to tell. 
From a tree rising near the treasure fell. 

HEAVEN 

Lackey — The night has come, the time for sleepi- 
ness. 
And I must sleep. 
Master. You show a lackey's mind. 

I am not sleepy though the silent night 
Says we must be contented with her 

stars 
If we still wish for pleasure from our 

eyes; 
And though this may be the accustomed 

time 
For slumber in the world where mortals 

sleep, 
I say this is the realm of wakefulness: 
We are in Heaven. 
Lackey. Little did I think 

That my first impulse, coming to these 
shores, 

54 



Master and Lackey 



Would be to sleep ! There were those in 
the world 

Who said that here is the Eternal Sleep. 

I thought them wrong. 
Master. Of course they were: here Heaven 

Revokes forever her decree of sleep. 
Lackey — I wish to sleep: Good master, let me 

sleep. 
Master — Awake. 
Lackey — O come and tell me at the dawn 

To waken. 
Master. You are still enslaved to error. 

Here is no dawn and here no twilight is, 

Here is no change. 
Lackey. O blessed Change! it brought us 

Slumber. 
Master. If you could rid your mind of sleep, 

Full soon should this obsession of the 
night 

Leave you as well ; you'd understand 
there's nothing 

To cloud or alter the eternal day 

That reigns in Heaven. 
Lackey. I was fond of Night, 

She always kept her promise of the Dav. 

O let me think that I can fall asleep 

And then each morning still recover 
Heaven 

At the first dimming of the stars. 
Master. No. Heaven 

Is ever in our sight. 

55 



Master and Lackey 



Lackey. Alas, alas! 

This place is what I always thought it 
was 

And my worst fears are being realized! 
Master — Do you not see the light returning now? 
Lackey — It has the semblance of an earthly dawn ; 

Perhaps all is not lost. 
Master. Do you behold 

Temples ? 
Lackey. I see a circus tent appearing. 

Master — You are perverse: here are no circus 

tents. 
Lackey — ^And, yonder, master, is a cosy inn. 

It must be time for breakfast. 
Master. Look for temples. 

Lackey — I see one, sir. 

Master. You ought to see ten thousand. 

Lackey — There'd be no place for inns and circus 
tents 

If that were true. 
Master — Of course there is no place. 

Here shall rise only temples. 
Lackey. Do you not 

Behold these barns, these houses as I do? 
Master — If I behold them I reproach myself 

For having such unseemly thoughts of 
Heaven. 

I'm going to the temple. 
Lackey. I'll go with you, 

And later we shall breakfast at the inn. 
Master — Once we have passed the temple doors we 
never 

S6 



Master and Lackey 



Shall come away unless, indeed, it be 
To visit other temples. 
Lackey. O there is 

A crowd of people coming from the 

church 
And in their faces shines a ruddy glow 
And they are crying: "Now our prayers 

are said. 
Let us go wander all day in the fields." 
Master — I'll stop them. 

Lackey. Step aside with me, my master, 

Or they might sweep you with them far 

away 
From the church doors. 
Master. Such conduct here in Heaven ! 

I knew the Lord was tolerant on earth, 
I thought he was intolerant in Heaven. 
Will He not blast them with His thun- 
derbolt ? 
Lackey — O hear yon lover as he passes, saying: 
"I prayed the Lord of Heaven earnestly 
To grant me Julia's love : she is so fair." 
Master — What sacrilege! A lover here in 
Heaven ! 
How can this be sir? 
Lackey. List ! He has not finished. 

''This garland will I bear to Venus' 

shrine 
And all the altars of the gods shall burn 
That ought to burn when men's hearts 
are on fire. 

57 



Master and Lackey 



I hope to win her love before tonight 

That I may live contentedly in Heaven." 
Master — Where is the thunderbolt? 
Lackey. There is a halo 

About the lover's head. 
Master. None but the saints 

Should wear them. 
Lackey. Evidently things have changed 

In Heaven. 
Master. These are aberrations, lackey. 

Lackey — Let us then sleep and dream that they are 

true. 
Master — I did not come to Heaven's court to 
sleep. 

The mind reposes here and not the body. 

My mind is now reposing. In one 
thought 

Of greatness I shall wrap me like a cloak. 

I am prepared now for more fair sensa- 
tions 

Than I have ever known. 
Lackey. I shall be sleepy 

If I sit thus for long. 
Master. I have found matter 

To occupy my spirit through long ages: 

I'm thinking of Eternity. 
Lackey. I'm thinking 

Of dishes, circus riders, games and 
dances. 

I do my best to ponder on one thing; 

This cursed habit of variety 

58 



Master and Lackey 



Will not let go its hold. O tell me, mas- 
ter, 
That I may go to sleep, 't is the one way 
To have the right demeanor here in 

Heaven. 
I'm too alert for such a place as this. 
We thought the slumbers sweet which 

brought oblivion 
Of petty things which mortal men call 

woes, 
But what were they beside this fairest 

slumber 
Which brings to me forgjetfulness of 

Heaven ? 

Good night, dear master. 

Master. Do not fall asleep! 

Suppose that following your bad example 

The Master like his Lackey fell asleep? 

Lackey — It would not matter: we might both 

awake 
And find this Heaven nought but a bad 

dream. 



Soon there was nothing to be heard or seen, 
't was such a silence as may coming between 
Two sudden takings of a planet's breath 
When it has had a close escape from death. 



't was such an emptiness as might be found 
If God should sink into a peace profound 



59 



Master and Lackey 



And there were no more pictures in His mind. 
"It is the Heavens which salute mankind." 



The lackey said. And soon the Dark was gone, 
Driven to flight by the far sweeping dawn, 
And an awed whisper through the silence ran 
As in its turn each planet bowed to man. 



60 



Master and Lackey 



EPILOGUE 



Perhaps you ask where these wayfarers are 
Today? Are they still sleeping in some star 
Whose only care is to turn noiselessly 
That their long sleep may sweet and dreamless be? 



For one of them I cannot say. Who dares 
To guess along what roads the master fares? 
As for the lackey, he's of noble birth, 
He found some way of getting back to earth. 



6i 



TWO KNIGHTS IN LOVELAND 

PROLOGUE 

Two knights are traveling across the plain; 
The meadows have been newly washed with rain; 
And there are eyes that look for fantasy, 
And there is talk of joy and harmony. 

Scene I 
An Inn, 

Strongheart — Faithful companion, lay your whip 

aside. 
Remove your spurs, your buskins now 

unlace, 
Let the proud feathers on your riding 

cap. 
Instead of pirouetting in the wind. 
Over the table's edge here in this room 
/ Excite a kitten's curiosity. 

I Our horses now shall in the stable rest 

And if, when galloping across the land, 
They feel an impulse to turn other ways 
Than we would have them go who hold 

the reins 
We'll know it is not for some vague 

alarm 
But for the food that waits them in the 

stalls. 

62 



Two K flights in Loveland 



Faintheart— Good friend, I will believe this is 
the end 

Though had you said it is not yet attained 

I'd have believed jou just as readily. 

As I had need of you to find the way, 

So have I need of you to know the goal. 
Strongheart — What's this? You do not recog- 
nize the sign 

Which tells me that our journey's end is 
here? 

't is true that you must read it in your- 
self— 

For you might stand bewildered at cross- 
roads 

Unless the heart within you intimates 

Which of two highways is the one to 
choose. 
Faintheart — I always was bewildered at cross- 
roads. 

If there are crossroads in this land, my 
friend, 

I'm certain to be fearfully perplexed. 

Remind me why it is we come, my friend. 
Strongheart — Have you forgotten how, one 
moon ago, 

A fearful ennui fell upon our souls? 

We were unhappy dwelling in a land 

Where all men's acts took from the ants 
their model 

Or perhaps from the beehive, God knows 
which ! 

63 



Master and Lackey 



Perhaps such ennui we should not have 

known 
Had there not come a rumor that there 

lay 
Somewhere on the remainder of that 

path 
The sun pursued after he left our realm 
A land whose people knew another sway, 
Loveland the land was called and Love 

its queen. 
There is a legend that long, long ago 
Our kingdom too was governed by this 

queen 
But war and revolution drove her out. 
Which seems a strange thing, for the 

rumor said 
That ruled by such a noble potentate 
The people in the land knew happiness 
And joys beyond the measure of our 

own. 
They say the revolution in our land 
Was captained by the women, not the 

men. 
You know our women folk are Amazons 
And they are known sometimes to punish 

men 
If they should offer them unthinkingly 
Attentions which here, men say, women 

prize. 
Faintheart — I think it was dislike of being pun- 
ished 

64 



Two Knights in Lov eland 



That made me come with you. I have 
been punished 

So often just because I wished to show 

A woman little marks of courtesy, 

Innocent little marks of courtesy. 

I know I'm going to be happy here. 
Strongheart — 't was then that ennui fell upon 
our souls, 

And in our hearts we blamed our coun- 
trymen 

For losing such a monarch and we wish- 
ed. 

Day and night, we might come to see this 
realm. 

Behold today our enterprise achieved : 

We are in Loveland, where is Love, the 
queen ? 

{Enter the Innkeeper). 

Innkeeper — The Queen of Love, masters, awaits 
without. 
Learning of your arrival in the realm 
She orders that the law should be observ- 
ed, 
Either the last hour of the twenty-four 
To go upon your w^y or else to pledge 
Allegiance to the Queen and be forever 
Her subjects. 

Strongheart. We will stay. O let us go 

To tell her with what loyalty, what zeal 
We enter in her service. 

65 



Master and Lackey 



{Enter the Queen and attendants). 

The Queen — O pilgrims from afar, 1 hear ye 

come 
From that rebellious province to the east 
That scorned my sway. What purpose 

brings you here 
I know not, but unless it be the will 
To serve me, then the day has dawned 

already 
Which you must see die far from my 

frontiers. 
Strongheart — Queen, we would pledge allegiance 

to your name 
And by our actions would do penitence 
For all our unenlightened countrymen. 
Queen — There was a time when Loveland was the 

world : 
My kingdom's usages were life itself, 
And if there was a convert to the faith 
It was the innocent and newborn child, 
Who learned with speech to recognize 

my sway. 
Alas, the time has come when men full- 
grown 
Should need conversion! Hah, ye have 

done well 
To come, I never should have sought you 

out. 
Among the beasts I'd make a proselyte 
Rather than in your tribe: rest ye secure. 
66 



Two Knights in Loveland 



I laugh when provinces like yours rebel 
And my indifference is your defence. 
But you are penitent. Stand forth, ye 

two 
Who would be knights of love. Within 

my hand 
I hold a gift as rich as does that hand 
That plucks the stars at dawn and holds 

them clasped 
Until it sets them back again at even. 
I can not give my gift lightly away. 
But if the disposition you reveal 
That with a knightly character accords, 
Then I accept with joy your services. 
You, sir, come show your aptness. Take 

your bonnet. 
Salute these ladies. 

{Strongheart takes his bonnet and makes a sweeping 
bow to the ladies). 

Queen. {Aside). Ah, the noble knight! 

{Aloud), 't was a becoming salutation, 

sir. 
One saw your arm that swept the air 

would sweep 
These women quite away did they not 

shrink 
And cower at your gaze. And you, his 

friend, 
Salute these ladies. 

67 



Master and Lackey 



{Faintheart makes an awkward, deprecating bow). 

Queen. {Aside). O the paltry knave! 

The deprecating, miserable knave! 

You'd think he was a eunuch with a fan 

Putting you all to sleep. {To the 
ladies). Why do you this, 

You poor misguided wretch ? to do them 
good? 

Tell the whole pack of them to drown 
themselves : 

't is thus the Queen of Love feels for her 
sex. 

Learn this: the purpose of man's court- 
esy 

Is to display a shapely leg, an eye 

That flashes when there's thunder in his 
voice. 

I fear you have too much to learn to 
make 

A lover this side death, still you may 
try. 

You'd make a splendid lover up in 
Heaven, — 

My poor man, this is earth, these are not 
angels 

But women. They're not leaning out 
from Heaven 

To talk with you, you know; no collo- 
quy 

Is interrupted there when they begin 
68 



Tzuo Knights in Loveland 



To shower attentions on you. O poor 

man, 
We'll need the rod that measures dis- 
tances 
From star to star to calculate aright 
Your ignorance. I'd not say of a man, 
"This man can be no lover," never, 

never. 
I therefore bid you and your comrade 

here 
To go this day upon a pilgriamge. 
Count for me all the smiles, like signal 

fires. 
That may be lit within my borders: you 
Must light them. When your pilgrim- 
age is done, 
Come back to me. I judge a lover best 
When he's returning from a pilgrimage 
Made in the springtime in the land of 

Love. 
I leave you, O fine creature, in the care 
Of your good genius, and your friend as 

well. 
Abandoned to the mercy of his own 
I think I should too greatly pity him. 
Enough. The Queen of Love has other 

cares : 
God speed you, sirs, upon your pilgrim- 
age. 

End of Scene I 



69 



Master atid Lackey 



Interlude 

The time is Spring, straightway we dream of hours 
That have as many petals as the flowers 
In Paradise, the sweetest, the most rare: 
One by one fall the petals, need we care? 

Scene II 
An Inn. 

(Faintheart enters, followed by the innkeeper). 

Faintheart — First, tell me, are there any women 

here? 
Innkeeper — None, sir. 

Faintheart. Not even a poor kitchen maid 

Who makes a sly pretence of poverty 
Just to display her riches at a table 
Where a poor weary man seeks rest from 
w^omen ? 
Innkeeper — Not even a kitchen maid. 
Faintheart. Housekeepers neither 

Who tress white reverend locks upon 

their brows 
And lo ! it is the last snow ere the spring 
Which soon you shall see budding in 
their hearts? 
Innkeeper — There are no housekeepers either. 
Faintheart. Not a woman! 

Not even, sir, the picture of a woman, 
An article of woman's dress, not even 
A book that tells of women, nothing, 
nothing : 

70 



Two Knights i?i Lovelaiid 



That is what I desire, not even, sir, 
The possibility within your brain 
That in a moment you should talk of 
women. 
Innkeeper — By gad, I feel inclined to talk of 
women : 
Who does not at all hours? 
Faintheart. I'll go away. 

O let not this be falsely called an inn 
And to the other comforts for your guests 
Add this, deliverance from the thought 
of Woman. 
Innkeeper — Are you not he who went on pilgrim- 
age? 
Faintheart — I am. Where else then could a man 
have gone. 
Who looks like me save on a pilgrimage 
To women's hearts? They say Jerusa- 
lem 
Was a long ways to go in the dark ages, 
A long and perilous quest, but this is 

farther 
And there are fiercer Saracens around 
A woman's heart than those who long 

ago 
Guarded the sepulchre. 
Innkeeper. Where's your companion? 

Faintheart — I know not. I was taken prisoner, 
And, that my captors might take more 
delight, 

71 



Master and Lackey 



I was each day transferred from prison 

to prison 
In different women's hearts, but I es- 
caped, 
And that is why I'm here and why I 
ask 
If there are any women in the inn. 
Innkeeper — There are none here, but look with- 
out, my friend. 
The Queen of Love is standing at the 

door 
With all her court. 
Faintheart. Kind Gods, have pity on me. 

{Enter the Queen of Love with her Attendants). 

Queen — This is the day assigned and he is here. 

My friend, you are the last page of the 

book 
That's written on your life, I see so 

clearly 
The ending and the ending is disaster. 
What, a whole month in this our land of 

love 
And you maintain the barbarous custom 

still 
And dare to walk abroad without a 

woman ? 
What can this mean? 
Faintheart — I was made prisoner. 
Queen — A prisoner ! There's not a woman's heart 

72 



Tivo Knights in Loveland 



Ample enough to keep men prisoners 

For long. 
Faintheart. You see that I am free. 

Queen. You should 

Have laid the castle level with the 
ground 

Where you v^ere captive, but you fled 
away, 

Leaving it there to hold new prisoners. 

To see there shall be no new prisoners 

Within a woman's heart, once he is free. 

Should be a man's ambition. O you child, 

You pityful, incorrigible child! 

You should have left one castle standing 
still 

And cried out proudly to the whole 
world : "Here 

Where once I was in prison I am king." 

What did you tell the women, tell me 
this, 

Trying to woo them? 
Faintheart. Here's my answer. Lady. 

I thought that you might ask and for de- 
fence 

I took a clerk one day, when I went 
wooing. 

That he might note down all the words 
I said. 

Here is a copy of my plea : you'll wonder 

That one who put so much heart, kind- 
ness, goodness 

73 



Master a?id Lackey 



Into his wooing failed to win a maid. 
Will you not read, your grace? 
Queen. Read it yourself. 

Faintheart — 't is thus 1 would begin: "O lovely 

maiden, 
I understand why there are stars in 

Heaven, 
They come each night to see you." 
Queen. The beginning 

Is good, but pray continue. 
Faintheart. "If you knew 

The stars were looking at you, would you 

look 
At me, your humble servant? I'll not 

tell you 
That they are looking." 
Queen. Error, error, error! 

You should have said: "If there are 

stars in Heaven 
You shall not see them, lady, for I'll 

rise 
Magnificent between you and the star?, 
And, woman, you shall only look on me." 
Faintheart — How, lady, should I say such words 

as those ? 
Instead I told her: "You would not in- 
quire 
Where the sun may be found or where 

the stars. 
So certainly as they are in the skies, 
So certainly I shall be at your side. 

74 



Two Kniffhts in Loveland 



I am the province which, when there's 
rebellion, 

Shall never rise, the aid, which, if there's 
need. 

Shall never fail. I am yours, yours for- 
ever." 
Queen — ^What, not leave one doubt in a woman's 
mind? 

What, not the riches of a single doubt ? 

Poor man, the love is singularly poor 

That is not furbished and replete with 
doubts. 

This man has gone forth sewing certi- 
tudes 

In the springtide of Love's first pilgrim- 
age. 

Poor man, I think you need read nothing 
more. 
Faintheart — O lady, I am very miserable! 
Queen — You have no business to be miserable. 

Only a woman should know misery. 

But what's the use of telling you your 
faults ? 

You'll never learn to cure them. Stand 
aside. 

For I see your companion at the door. 
{Strongheart appears at the door). 



Queen — Enter, my lord, and bring your lady with 

»'s 
75 



you: 
Fm sure there's room for one. 



Alaster and Lackey 



Strongheart. For one, dear lady! 

I need room for a hundred. 
Queen. For a hundred! 

Doubtless some damsels whom the man 
has rescued. 

Show them in, sir. {The ladies enter). 

Now tell me of the deeds 

Accomplished in your lover's pilgrimage. 
Strongheart — You gave as many days and nights 
as Heaven 

Takes to refurbish and remake a moon. 

There was not one passed in anxiety 

Lest I should fail in this my enterprise, 

And the last day took pattern from the 
first. 

Behold the trophies of my prowess, 
Queen : 

Have I done well? {to the ladies) Hud- 
dle together, you; 

I shall have gentle words for you anon, 

But be obedient now. You know I love 
you. 

The proof is I should kill the man who 
came 

To take from me the least admired of 
you. 
Queen — ^You mean these are your wives. 
Strongheart. If men call wives 

Women they have subdued and won't re- 
linquish. 



76 



Two Knights in Loveland 



Queen — {Aside). I fear this lover has misunder- 
stood 

No less than did the other. {Aloud). 
My good man, 

You have misunderstood. There's but 
one wife 

Alloted to a man. 
Strongheart. Yes, so they told me, 

Those women there, but when I came to 
choose, 

They said perhaps a hundred could be 
mine. 
Queen — You have sinned, sir, and your compan- 
ion, too. 
Strongheart — How sinned? I loved them all, I 
won them all. 

The sin would be to love and not to win. 
Queen — You have sinned, sir. Here are the laws 
of the realm 

I carry with me lest I should forget. 

Admiring sinners, what's accounted sin. 

You must be punished. {Aside). What 
a lover, though! 

I think 't is well that provinces rebel: 

Lovers like these are seldom found at 
home. 

Ah, this was my ideal of a knight! 

In the beginning I created man 

Carefully, thoughtfully, my darling crea- 
ture. 

But womankind I fashioned in the rough 

77 



Master and Lackey 



And left to man the task to finish her. 
Alas, he chose the wrong ingredients, 
He made a creature ready to rebel. 
My carelessness has cost me half the 

world 
And now for fear the other half revolt 
I see myself in this sad hour condemned 
To punish my most favored servitors. 
I am compelled each day to compromise, 
To be contented with a lessened sway 
Lest I no longer should hold sway at all. 
I am the shadow of my former self. 
(Aloud), But listen to my sentence, 

one and all — 
(Aside). Before the world I have to be 

severe. — 
(Aloud). Against this man who has 

transgressed our laws. 
This man who would possess a hundred 

wives. 
Go, lock him in a cell called Matrimony 
Where, as a guard, a woman night and 

day 
Shall watch his every act as cats watch 

mice. 
From such a sentence there is no re- 
prieve. 
He shall not leave that cell until he die. 
Or if it happens that the guardian dies 
And he escapes for want of vigilance 
A man like him can easily be found 
And a new woman set to watch the cell. 

78 



Two Knights in Loveland 



Strongheart — Ah me, for the fair liberty I lose! 
Why did I ever leave the Amazons? 
Mercy, O Queen, I'll be content with 

ten, 

With six, with five, with three, nay, 

Queen, with two! 
Queen — There is no pity. Carry him away. 
{Addressing Faintheart). 
You, sir, because you could not win a 

woman 
Shall wander like a beggar through the 

world 
And wish on stormy days and freezing 

nights 
That you might be arrested and locked 

up. 
As thieves contrive to find a needed shel- 
ter. 
There shall be no one found to lock you 

up — 
I sentence you to wander till you die. 



79 



Master and Lackey 



Epilogue 

Two knights ride slowly on into a land 
Of unknown terrors at the Queen's command. 
They ponder as they go, and who shall say 
They are disgruntled to have come that way? 



When they have read me, some will turn away 
To poets who have kinder things to say 
Of love, to honeyed words, to sweet emotion 
That knows no other language than devotion. 



To poets with the happy faculty 

Of being serious untiringly, 

To bards more worthy of their high tradition; 

They have such splendid talents for omission. 



Some will so turn and others will remain, 
Cry: "Here's a heart and with the heart a brain! 
He must have loved, for, see! he likes to play; 
He must have thought, with such wise things to 
say." 



80 



KING SORROW 

Prelude 

King Sorrow risks his crown in Happyland, 
For there are woes quite able to withstand 
All cheer and live in lasting martyrdom, 
And there are other sorrows that succumb. 



8i 



Master and Lackey 



KING SORROW 

Scene I 

The scene is a meadoiv near a castle. 

Meek — I've told you that this is a summer land, 

A tuneful land ; shall I say more, my 

master ? 
What could I tell you more, save that 

it is 
The very sort of land you would desire 

To find beneath a sky befitting gladness? 
Have you not wished for fields that should 

accord 
With gladsome skies? Well, here they 

lie before you 
Yet though the land lies in one mood un- 
changing 
It is not in a trance; it glows with 

beauty. 
With freedom, aspiration and desire, 
Perpetuated each in that best moment 
When we most wish that they should be 

prolonged, 
't is joy which you would not mistake for 

sorrow, 
't is summer at so delicate a point 
That subtle thinkers argue with each 

other 
How one should rightly name the season 

here; 

82 



Kinff Sorrow 



Some call it springtime, some would call 

it summer. 
To end their doubts they have the cal- 
endar 
For whom such things are settled in such 

ways ; 
We, to make sure, look to the sunny skies 
Through openings between the round, 

green boughs 
(Fissures too narrow for the month of 

May) 
While if we would be sure what month 

it is 
We've but to listen to the bobolink 
Who, once 't is mid July, has other work 
Than singing, he must change his coat of 

buff. 
Master, here is the haven of your rest. 
Here is the quiet and the still retreat 
Where you'll forget you have a ministry 
Or leave your work to other ministers. 
King Sorrow — Faithful companion, how can I for- 
get? 
I have not ministered for twenty years 
To care and grief and woe in my domain 
With hopes that on a summer holiday 
I, somehow, may obtain forgetfulness. 
Nay, rather I prefer not to forget. 
How can a man live in forgetfulness 
Of sorrow? I must with remembered 
griefs 

83 



Master and Lackey 



Refresh my sympathies lest they grow 
dull. 

for some sight to make me think of 
home! 

In all this valley every one is gay 
And I've not even heard an infant cry. 
Meek — O happy respite for a wearied man! 
King Sorrow — I fear this gaiety will tire me more. 
Meek — But, my good master, you must try to rest. 
King Sorrow — "Rest, rest"! And how find rest, 
I pray you, here 
In unfamiliar scenes? My mind requires 
Each day some aspect of reality, 
Some trouble to refresh it. You know 

well 
We live in a sad, melancholy world, 
That only certain of us in the breach 
Retard each day the great Tormentor's 

march. 
Then how shall I be absent from the 
fray? 

1 tell you. Meek, this landscape is un- 

real: 
You'd say there's nought but sunshine in 

the world. 
And staying here I might believe 't was 

so. 
Give me the town. Think what the city 

is — 
Ten thousand doorsteps to ten thousand 

woes, 

84 



King Sorrow 



Ten thousand homesteads of ten thous- 
and griefs, 
And if the thoroughfares are all alike, 
Alike then with the drab look of dis- 
tress. 
I cannot loiter here, or, if I do, 
Then must I visit every humble roof. 
Each hovel, hut and dwelling of the poor, 
Until I ferret out some misery. 
I'll prove this gaiety is just illusion. 
Or, being true, flee from it like the 
plague. 
Meek — O then, dear master, you. are doomed to 

flee. 
King Sorrow — Nonsense! There's trouble hid- 
den everywhere. 

{Here people begin to pass by at intervals). 

Can you not see these peasants as they 

toil 
Are bowed beneath their woes? I know 

they are, 
It takes a trained eye to distinguish grief. 
Heigh, yonder ploughman struggling 

with your plow, 
Alas that you should toil such weary 

hours ! 
Ploughman — I follow now the pleasant paths ot 

labor 
And I shall follow other paths anon. 

8s 



Master and Lackey 



King Sorrow — Heigh, cartman, hurrying along to 
town, 
Alas you should be caught in such a 
whirl ! 
Cartman — I'm happy hurrying along to town 

And happily, full soon, I'll hurry home, 
Forever happy on my changing round. 
King Sorrow — Grandmother, what a pity you 

should walk! 
Grandmother — I have a carriage but I love to 
walk. 
Walking, nobody dreams that I am old. 
King Sorrow — Unhappy schoolgirl with the brok- 
en toy! 
Schoolgirl — A moment's work and it is whole 

again. 
King Sorrow — I think they must pretend such un- 
concern 
Or else it is the bright, deceitful day 
Transfusing them with its unnatural joy. 
Meek — They've a like language on a cloudy day. 
King Sorrow — I call such language hypocritical 

Or, if they are so happy, should they be? 
They'd not be happy if they knew the 

world. 
Alas, it is the fruit of ignorance. 
Ignorance gross and wilful. What they 

need 
Is an apostle to enlighten them. 
Meek — Master, let us go on to greet our hosts, 

The King of Gladness. What strange 
fantasy, 

86 



King Sorrow 



That he should have a castle for his 

dwelling, 
He who is king of merriment and song! 
Yet castle never was more beautiful 
Than his: perhaps all instruments of 

war, 
If here transferred, would take on love- 
liness. 
Yon rise the castle walls. By shady 

bowers 
Here on this sunny afternoon I brought 

you 
That when into these pasty res we emerg- 
ed 
The light might seem the burst of a new 

day: 
Then w^ould you own these castle walls 

are fair. 
Along the way the river was our guide: 
Sometimes it frisked ahead, and now and 

then 
It turned about to see if we kept pace, 
Like a stray dog that will befriend a 

man. 
Look, like a drawbridge huge, the castle's 

shadow 
Has been let down to join the flowery 

fields. 
Come let us at its utm.ost edge repose: 
The King of Gladness will behold us 

there 

87 



Master and Lackey 



And come to talk with us in this fair 
meadow. 
King Sorrow — I see a figure coming toward us 
now. 
I think I ought to know if 't is a king, 
Being a king myself. 
Meek. Is it the king? 

King Sorrow — Of such a land as this he may be 
king. 
Grief would have bowed him down be- 
fore his time, 
Had he been king of sorrows as I am. 
Meek — There are glad maidens in his retinue. 
King Sorrow — They should not form the follow- 
ing of a king. 
Meek — Master, I'll haste to tell him who you are. 
King Sorrow — Yes, hasten. It is time, for I be- 
lieve 
He does not know there is a land of sor- 
row 
And that it has a king. {Alone). I 

know not why, 
I have a feeling that there's danger here. 
I know not what a sorrow has to dread 
Environed by such gladness: just the 

same, 
Someone's in danger. It is not myself. 
I know that I am steadfast like a king. 
To learn that here upon my far frontiers 
There lies this little realm of happiness 
Frightens me not. I have redoubtable 
hosts 



King Sorrow 



To keep my wide domains secure for 

sorrow. 
And yet there is a menace in the air. 
Is it because I am so sensitive 
I'm apprehensive of another's woes? 
It is to be expected when he suffers 
A life time with his fellows that the king 
Should suffer, though he should be 

leagues away. 
Alas, my people, you are suffering 
And here I am, your king, your guilty 

king, 
Somehow persuaded, quite against my 

will. 
To pass an afternoon in the broad sun- 
light. 
Meek — {Returning with the King of Gladness), 
I'd not be called a traitor to my master 
Yet I deliver him into your hands. 
King of Gladness — You shall be called the sav 
iour of your fellows. 
You'll place upon his head a fairer 

crown, 
And he will stand more upright while he 
bears it. 
Meek — This is my master, sir, the King of Sor- 
rows. 
Gladness — I am the King of Gladness. 
King Sorrow. Two are meeting 

Who never heard before of one another, 
I must suppose. 

89 



Master and Lackey 



Gladness. I knew that you were ruling 

And always wished to know you. King of 

Sorrow. 

King Sorrow — I some times have held converse 

with the kings 

Of Darkness and of Hell: I did not 

know 
There was another king in all the earth, 
Not knowing there were other lands to 
govern. 
Gladness — My kingdom is an ancient realm, 

though small. 
King Sorrow — I hope you sit secure upon your 
throne — 
Such mighty kingdoms crowd you on each 
side. 
King of Gladness — I think I have good cause to 
be secure, 
I've lived so long in full security. 
King Sorrow — I know not what the realms of grief 
may do 
When they hear joy dwells close to their 
frontiers. 
Gladness — I know full well. 

Sorrow. You mean they will do nothing. 

As those are wont who view foes with 
disdain. 
Gladness — Perhaps that is my meaning. But I 
leave you 
To something still more royal than the 
king— 

90 



King Sorroiu 



This quiet evening air. It will beguile 
you 

A moment till I have returned : there are 

Affairs of state that call me. Tell me, 
king. 

Would you believe the King of Glad- 
ness troubled 

By care of state? In realms where glad- 
ness rules 

There ought to be no cares, you say. 
't is true. 

And yet the very day you visit us 

It is the fates' will that I should become 

Like one of those old kings with work 
to do 

Which legends tell about. 
Sorrow. I'm such a king. 

Those are not legends which recount my 
deeds ; 

Each story told is true. 
Gladness. Your kingdom is 

So far away that even stories told 

Of living kings of sorrow seem like leg- 
ends. 

But howsoe'er it be, today I labor. 

I hope that men shall say of me to- 
morrow : 

"Never has Gladness done such deeds as 
those 

He did the day he met Sorrow, his broth- 
er." 



91 



Master and Lackey 



King Sorrow — What is your purpose? 
Gladness. 't is a thing so vast 

I'd have to crowd a kingdom in this 
space 

To give an illustration. Realms must 
lend 

Their kings to me. I'd give such chang- 
ed kings back 

To such changed kingdoms I alone 
should know 

That they belong together. 

{The king of Gladness leaves his guests). 

King Sorrow. Master Meek, 

I see the king of Gladness may be proud. 
What is his project? Has he told you, 
Meek? 
Meek — You'd say it was to send his daughter to 
you, 
A lovely princess. Do you see her com- 
ing? 
You would believe an opening in a tree, 
Not in yon castle walls, was made for 

her 
That she might enter in or leave at 

will 
Her dwelling, she, a dryad. 
King Sorrow. Can this be? 

Her eyes have never held a look of sad- 
ness, 

92 



King Sorrow 



Yet they are beautiful, they have not 

wept 
Yet they are clear and bright! O think, 

those cheeks 
Were never wet with tears and never 

shall be, 
And if a man should ever kiss those 

lips 
They would not open to breathe forth 

a sigh 
Because he ceased to kiss them: she 

straightway 
Would find some other pleasure! 
Meek. She is fair, 

My master. 
King Sorrow. I'll not look at her again, 

I am too willing to believe it true. 
Meek — ^What, master? 

King Sorrow. That a woman may be fair 

Here in this land of summer and of joy. 
I shall be steadfast, for I am the king, 
A king, alas, that dares not turn his 

eyes 
And may be king and master of his soul 
Only with eyes averted from a woman. 
Meek — Look on her, King. 

King Sorrow. I'll only look upon her 

When I shall be a blurred thing to her 

eyes 
Blinded with tears. 
Meek. Then look upon her, king. 

93 



Master and Lackey 



King Sorrow — What do you mean? 
Meek. Behold the princess weeping! 

End of Scene I. 



94 



King Sorrow 



Interlude 

O King of Sorrow, now's a time for care, 
A woman's shedding tears and she is fair: 
If you believe your kingdom still may need you, 
Beware then where a woman's tears may lead you. 

> 
Scene II 

Scene — Before the castle as in the preceding. The 
King and Meek are conversing. 

King — Yes, I will tell 3'ou all. I had despaired 

Of finding in the bounds of this domain 
One heart whose regular and normal 

beat 
Was ever interrupted save for joy. 
I told myself that sensibility 
Is proven by our tears and not by smiles, 
Then without doubt they are unfeeling 

cattle. 
But as my judgment was to be pro- 
nounced 
And the whole family as one condemned. 
All suddenly the daughter of the house 
Burst into tears, its honor was redeemed. 
I was not one to let a woman weep, 
I paid the homage due to one who 

grieves. 
Then tried to learn the reason of her 
tears, 

95 



Master and Lackey 



But she had fled. I searched and found 

her soon. 
There in a grove that in the noonday sun 
Tucks all its shadows underneath its 

boughs 
As a hen shields her brood, I found her 

sitting. 
I came upon her weeping 'neath a willow 
That bent like her its sorrow stricken 

brow. 
Can you imagine Sorrow, servant Meek, 
Within a setting more adorable? 
Long I entreated her to tell me why 
She wept; her woe was inarticulate; 
Her grief could find no voice. I was 

amazed 
At such a show of sorrow. I have seen 
Women who wept since ever I was born 
But I had never seen one weep like this. 
And still she wept and night time had 

come on 
And I had spent, the first time in my 

life. 
All my stored wealth of pity fruitlessly. 
We came home through the darkness and 

I said 
Farewell (a thing unheard of) to a 

friend 
Before together we had said farewell 
To sorrow. All the night I thought of 

her. 

96 



King Sorrow 



"Here is a sorrow that is infinite," 

I thought, and then the notion grew 

apace 
That I, trained all my life by lesser 

griefs, 
Might well devote the rest of it to watch, 
To study and at last to cure this woe, 
Greater than all the rest. Aye, 't is so 

great 
It may well need a lifetime for its cure. 
I saw the sequel was no more nor less 
Than marriage, but my scruples passed 

away. 
If against marriage I rebelled till now 
It was for fear a woman's grief was 

hollow ; 
I wished a grief unbounded like a god's. 
No danger here of waking up some day 
To find her melancholy gone forever. 
Her sorrow will attract me like the pole 
And I'll be faithful to a grief like hers. 
Meek — And have you told her, Master, of your 

purpose ? 
King Sorrow — I told her, having won the king's 

consent, 
And she agreed to be my wife with tears. 
Meek— O, Master, aren't you happy that you 

came? 
You may have cause to thank your ser- 
vant Meek. 
And is it true that for your lady's sake 
! >^'^ 97 



Master and Lackey 



You'll stay forever in the Happy Val- 
ley? 
King Sorrow — The whole world's sorrow is as 
nought to hers; 

Shall I abandon it for lesser woes? 

My kingdom well may spare me for a 
while. 

Who would have thought to find the 
fairest altar 

Of sorrow in the midst of Happiness? 

(The Princess enters). 

Meek — Here is your lady, Master, and she smiles. 
King Sorrow — O there are times when I can make 

her smile. 
Poor suffering soul, with courage still 

to smile, 
Though with the impulse and desire to 

weep! 
Venus, I think, was born from women's 

tears ; 
('t was this they called the sea) and 

when they flow, 
Her chalice seems to glide from tear to 

tear 
As though from wave to wave! Be not 

afraid. 
Smile still! Be sure that I shall under- 
stand ! 
I know the undercurrent is distress. 

98 



King Sorrow 



Your joy is just a heroine's disguise, 
And to the end I'll be your comforter. 
Princess — O will he never cease to pity me? 

Strange consequence of an imprudent 

wish! 
My fairy godmother, when I was born, 
Promised if ever I had need of her, 
She would fulfill the first prayer that I 

made. 
And so I prayed that she should make 

me sad 
Just for one day — no other way there is 
Than magic to make men unhappy here. 
I hoped to win his pity with my tears, 
And with his pity win of course his love. 
By Heaven, if I won his love I know not, 
It is so certain that his pity's won. 
For now the charm is broken and I am 
Once more my true carefree and happy 

self, 
He thinks my happiness is but a feint, 
And still persists, alas! in pitying me. 
O could I only think of some device 
To make him see me as I truly am! 
O King, behold the smile upon my face. 
King Sorrow — I'll own the imitation's masterly. 
Princess — Look deep into my laughing eyes, O 

King. 
King Sorrow — Sorrow has never known more fair 

disguise. 
Princess — Do you not see me leap and dance, O 

King? 

99 



Master and Lackey 



King Sorrow — Enough! I am persauded of your 
skill, 
And now I beg you be yourself once 
more. 
Princess — I am myself. 
King Sorrow — No, you are in a trance. 

This humor soon will pass and you will 

be 
My melancholy princess once again. 
Princess — I'll not. 

King Sorrow — But even if your words were true 
And you are gay, you'll be unhappy soon. 
Princess — I'll never be unhappy anymore. 
King Sorrow — No man is certain of his mood to- 
morrow. 
Princess — Excepting those who dwell in Happy 
Valley. 
If in despite of habit, climate, laws. 
One of us is o'ershadowed by a cloud, 
't is dissipated by the second day 
And never may return a second time. 
King Sorrow — You'll never once shed tears until 

you die? 
Princess — I'll never once shed tears until I die. 
King Sorrow — You are deceiving me. 
Princess. No, I am truthful. 

King Sorrow — (Aside). O what a loving hus- 
band here is wasted! 
So I have won myself an Amazon, 
I whose dream had been an unhappy wife 
Whom I should cherish, shelter from 
life's woes 

ICO 



King Sorrow 



And sometimes render happy by my love ! 
I am a man of honor and 't is true, 
't was my mistake to think her woe im- 
mortal. 
It should not have deceived my practiced 

eyes. 
She'll be my wife, and I'll be true to 

her. 
Thank Heaven, I possess a kingdom still 
Where still my sympathies may be re- 
freshed. 
I'll go and visit it from time to time. 
He who at home cannot relieve some 

woe 
To search it out into the world must go. 
Princess — Poor King, I think my words have 
made you sad. 
Look up, poor King, and let me comfort 
you. 
King Sorrow — O never once attempt to pity me! 
I feel like Samson in Delilah's arms 
And to be pitied shears my strength 
away. 
Princess — Then I will go away. Here at your 
side 
I fear that I should want to pity you. 
I'll be returning soon. Indeed if I 
Returned as soon as is a sorrow's ending 
After a woe's beginning in this realm, 
I'd not be long away. For you I'll wait 
A little longer. 

lOI 



Master and Lackey 



(Exit the princess). 

King Sorrow. See what I have done 

By this alliance with the house of Glad- 
ness! 
I might have known there was no union 

with it. 
Another proof that grieving kings should 

mate 
With maidens of the royal blood of Sor- 
row! 
Meek — Good Lord, dear Master, in all Happy 
Valley 
There's not a soul unhappy save yourself ! 
King Sorrow — Are you then leagued with her to 
pity me? 
Unhappy Meek, that you should come to 

this, 
My servant tried and true, to whom I 

taught 
But this one maxim, never pity me! 
O holy Sorrow, I have been betrayed ! 
What, shall a masquerader in thy name, 
A woman shedding false fictitious tears, 
Seduce the King of Sorrow from thy 

faith? 
No, I must go to see thy votaries. 
Yonder my worth is recognized at least 
And I am known to be thy minister 
There every day the orphans flock to me, 
The widows, and the halt, the maimed, 
the blind, 

1 02 



Kinff Sorrow 



And seem contented only with my tears, 

As though my tears were all that they 
required. 

They know my tears are as the royal seal 

Upon their troubles, making them au- 
thentic, 

And opening wide my treasures to their 
needs. 

Such are my subjects: I'll away to them. 

Thank God, there's still employment for 
the King 

Even though here Pity's superfluous. 

(Enter the King of Gladness). 

King Gladness — I am the bearer of good news to 

you, 
O King: we shall be brothers from this 

day. 
Your kingdom, like a diamond from the 

mine. 
Polished anew with an unwonted glow 
Shall shine in the same setting with my 

own, 
Twin jewels henceforth in the Happy 

Valley! 
But let me tell you in less flowery words 
All that has happened. In the city 

streets, 
When you so suddenly had disappeared. 
There was awhile a hue and cry for you 
103 



Master and Lackey 



Then as your absence was each day pro- 
longed 
And there came word that you were here 

my guest, 
The entire city suddenly resolved 
To follow on its benefactor's tracks. 
It seemed they could not live away from 

you ; 
They wished to live exalted at your side 
Or bear you back in triumph to your 

throne. 
It was a sad and sorry spectacle 
To see that long procession of the poor 
Go weeping from the town. Soon they 

had left 
The city far behind ; like a mill-wheel 
They seemed to tread the mighty cloud 

of dust 
That turned unendingly beneath their 

feet. 
At length the pilgrims reached this land's 

frontier, 
Still weeping, but no sooner had they 

crossed. 
Than lo! by the contagion of the air, 
Each one was seized; their mourning 

turned to joy. 
And they began to wonder whence they 

came, 
And what the reason was that made them 

come, 

104 



Kinff Sorrow 



But all were sure their goal had now 
been reached. 

There was nobody left who could recall 

Their benefactor — they forgot their woes 

And with their woes your mercies were 
forgotten, 

Or if they were recalled accounted 
dreams, 

Since losing sorrow they had lost the key 

To understanding pity. Thus they paus- 
ed, 

Happily in the fields they pitched their 
tents, 

And never wish to go away again. 

And you, O king, you too shall stay for- 
ever. 

Now we shall be two kings in happy val- 
ley. 

Would all the kings were here! But I 
must go 

To let my daughter know of this event. 
King Sorrow — ^There must be still grief in the 
countryside ; 

I'm going to the provinces to govern. 
King Gladness — Useless: the country will obey 

the town. 
King Sorrow — I wish that I had never come away. 

I wish I had a kingdom still to warn 

Never to make a pilgrimage to Gladness. 

Henceforward I am but a king in name; 

What need is there of kings for happy 
people ? 

105 



Master and Lackey 



Good-bye forevermore to old romance, 
The world is growing gay and common- 
place. 
Alas! I feel that I have need of pity. 

King, pray tell your daughter when 
you see her 

That poor King Sorrow needs her at his 
side. 

1 think that she will understand my 

words. 

{Exit King Gladness). 

King Sorrow — Thank Heaven that my memory is 
clear ; 
I shall find pleasure in remembered woes, 
A pleasure to my subjects now denied. 
Dear Meek, I pray you let me sleep, I am 
So weary and so lonely and the day 
Has brought such changes with it. 

Meek. Sleep, my master. 

{Enter the Princess with Weeping Maggie). 

Princess — I'd not be cruel in my victory, 

And seek to make less bitter his defeat. 
He's been so long accustomed to dis- 
tress 
I think to make him happy by degrees 
Would be the surest way, and so I choose 
The only person in all Happy Valley 
Who wears the semblance of Unhappi- 
ness, 

1 06 



King Sorrow 



To be the king's companion for a while. 
From morn to even Weeping Maggie 

cries, 
But hers are sobs that need not cause 

alarm, 
't is her peculiarity to cry, 
As it might be another's, sir, to smile, 
But she is really happy in her heart. 
She'll be a fit companion for the King. 
I leave her with your master, sir. 

{Exit the Princess). 

King Sorrow — ( Waking ) . O horror 

I dreamed there were no more tears in 

the world. 
There being nothing left to weep about. 
I wished to comfort and men laughed at 

me, 
And asked what the expression was I 

used. 
And when I wept, myself, for sheer des- 
pair, 
They seemed to be dumbfounded at the 

sight 
Till someone said he'd seen a circus 

clown 
Who could make water gush out of his 

eyes. 
Then all the city came to see me weep 
And still I wept, and everybody strove 
To imitate me but they strove in vain. 
107 



Master and Lackey 



At last they carried me to the police 
And had me taken into custody, 
As one afflicted with a strange disease 
Which in my person must be smothered 

out. 
There in a cell I languished when I 

woke, 
Annoyed by glances from the passers-by, 
But if what I have dreamed is true and 

tears 
Are a clown's antics puzzling all the 

world, 
O take me back into my cell again! 

{Weeping Maggie is heard sobbing). 

Meek. Listen! 

King Sorrow. I seem to hear a woman sob ! 

O let me see her that I may be sure! 

Then I was only dreaming? O thank 
God! 

POSTLUDE 

Let us not leave him to a fate so sad; 
Have we not time enough for being glad? 
Let us then sometimes go and weep for him, 
Poor monarch with his eyes from tears grown dim! 



io8 



A Fable 



A FABLE 

A sin one day fell down a well: 

Just how it happened, who can tell? 

It irritated its possessor, 

He looked in vain for its successor. 

Said he: '*An ornament like this 

Is something which my friends will miss. 

Without a sin in my lapel 

They'll say I've never been in hell. 

No doubt, I'll have to fish it out; 

My sin I cannot live without." 

And so he fished, his friends fished too. 

Said they: *'The work is vain we do. 

Search as we will no sin is there"; 

Nor could they find it anywhere. 

Whereupon to his consternation 

They said it was imagination: 

Into a well could he let fall 

A sin he'd never had at all ? 

But he, although they called him dunce, 

Swore he had had a failing once. 

They said: "To see is to believe." 

Our hapless friend began to grieve, 

And in a little while he died 

Without his sin, his former pride. 



109 



Bluebeard 



BLUEBEARD 

Bluebeard one day killed all his wives, 

A matter of some hundred lives. 

Said he: "To h — vrith cutting throats 

And silencing their pretty notes! 

I'll have but one wife after this, 

And that shall be my height of bliss." 

So Bluebeard went in quest of one 

From rising sun to setting sun. 

Alas, alas, for all things human! 

Poor Bluebeard couldn't find the woman. 

Dozens of them he found to kill 

But none to live with, calm and still. 

So in his castle all alone 

He dreamed of women he had known, 

And round the circle of his brain 

They passed, a long funeral train. 



no 



A Prayer 

A PRAYER 

thou who dost inspire men with thy mirth, 
Thou gentle, kindly and forgiving earth, 

Thou who hast taught me to be glad and play, 
Let me be just to the great Far Away. 

Forbid that I should people other spheres 

With formless wraiths and cruel doubts and fears, 

Forbid that taught by thee to covet light 

1 should plunge the Beyond in clouds and night. 

Let me not dream of any Being there 
Who does not smile, finding creation fair, 
For if he cannot laugh he must be blind. 
And if he cannot smile he is unkind. 

No, let me think of nothing, far and wide, 
Which thou couldst not have carried in thy side. 
Earth, kindly mother, who hast fostered me. 
Mother of joy, mother of purity. . 



Ill 



Afterword 



AFTERWORD 

Because the music which I sing is gay 

Will men believe that I have put away 

Sorrow and Grief and that I am serene 

With the great Calm of those who have not seen? 

And when in time I'll tell of tragic forms 
Which I have seen walking amid the storms, 
Shall then a voice be found to say of me: 
"He has abandoned his serenity"? 

I care not what they say, or now or then : 
Be this my lot and portion among men, 
To have built up, when all around was Night, 
A temple to thy praise, O Joy and Light, 



112 



liiiiiei. 

"'o 015 8976195 



